The striatum is a very heterogenous brain area, composed of different domains and compartments, albeit lacking visible anatomical demarcations. Two populations of striatal spiny projection neurons (SPNs) build the so-called direct and indirect pathway of the basal ganglia, whose coordinated activity is essential to control locomotion. Dysfunction of striatal SPNs is part of many movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease and L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia. In this mini review, I will highlight recent studies utilizing single-cell RNA sequencing to investigate the transcriptional profiles of striatal neurons. These studies discover that SPNs carry a transcriptional signature, indicating both their anatomical location and compartmental identity. Furthermore, the transcriptional profiles reveal the existence of additional distinct neuronal populations and previously unknown SPN sub populations. In a parallel development, studies in rodent models of Parkinson’s disease and L DOPA induced dyskinesia report that direct pathway SPNs do not react uniformly to L DOPA therapy, and that only a subset of these neurons is underlying the development of abnormal movements. Together, these studies demonstrate a new level of cellular complexity for striatal (dys-) function and locomotor control.

中文翻译：

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纹状体运动控制：新神经元（亚）群体的作用？

纹状体是一个非常异质的大脑区域，由不同的域和隔室组成，尽管缺乏可见的解剖学分界线。两组纹状体棘突投射神经元 (SPN) 构建了所谓的基底神经节直接和间接通路，其协调活动对于控制运动至关重要。纹状体 SPN 的功能障碍是许多运动障碍的一部分，例如帕金森病和左旋多巴引起的运动障碍。在这篇简短的评论中，我将重点介绍最近利用单细胞 RNA 测序来研究纹状体神经元转录谱的研究。这些研究发现 SPN 带有转录特征，表明它们的解剖位置和隔室特征。此外，转录谱揭示了额外的不同神经元群和以前未知的 SPN 亚群的存在。在平行发展中，对帕金森病和左旋多巴引起的运动障碍的啮齿动物模型的研究报告说，直接途径 SPN 对左旋多巴治疗的反应不一致，并且只有这些神经元的一个子集是异常运动发展的基础。总之，这些研究表明纹状体（dys-）功能和运动控制的细胞复杂性达到了新的水平。